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Favourite Yes Album


jacko

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Prompted by the Rush album thread I thought I'd put this one out there.  

I first saw Yes in 1973 and have been a huge fan ever since. Needless to say, seeing Squire having so much fun on stage was what turned me to the dark side.  So, I've been working at home this week and the wife's been out quite a bit so I've had the Hi-fi turned up and boy is it a hard choice.  In the end I narrowed the choice down to the Relayer, Going for the one and Tormato era.  I know Tormato has some weak tunes but they're more than compensated for by On the silent wings of freedom.  Going for the one is a strong album throughout, with Chris soaring majestically  on Parallels but I'm going to state for the record that Relayer is currently my favourite Yes album for a number of reasons, not least that it was the first one I bought myself instead of stealing from my brother.  I don't think Chris squire has played bass better on any other album and it has a certain aggression that's missing on much of the later stuff (I can't listen to the last 2 albums - utter shite to my ears).  Played very loud the album takes on a whole different aspect to when I first bought it new in 1974 and had to play it very quietly to avoid upsetting my ma and pa (perry como fans to this day).  Gates of Delerium really does sound like a battle is being fought - Alan White's drumming is stupendous.  Surprisingly, I even like the cha cha cha bits in Sound Chaser and To be over is sublime.  I'm going to stick my neck on the block and say Moraz is perfect for this album. Wakeman couldn't have made it any better. 

So that's  my choice. What's yours?

 

edited to fix the date - was the topographic oceans tour at Newcastle city hall.

Edited by jacko
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The first LP I ever bought was Close To The Edge.  It's still right up there for me, along with The Yes Album.

I actually quite like Fly From Here, but then it would be massively tedious if everyone liked the same stuff.

Edited by ead
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Favourite? The Yes Album. I remember hearing it for the first time when I was 14 as a budding bass player, sitting there with my Eros EB copy and listening to Chris Squire and wondering how the hell he did it. That perfect time when they were really breaking free from their constraints and starting to realise their potential, still full of youthful abandon but before they realised their genius. The joy of this album is palpable. And Chris Squire's bass playing is just wonderful - that little run up to the high registers on Starship Trooper is still my favourite Squire moment. The production is still quite raw and basic but this allows each instrument to shine, but there is still a lot of space for everything to breathe, something they had forgotten about when they got to Tormato 9_9

As for their best, it has to be Close To The Edge. The very pinnacle of the genre, unsurpassable.

Edited by Cosmo Valdemar
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My in was Fragile, so that still is my favourite and the line-up I think of as Yes, even though it probably isn't the best or the 'real' lineup but there's some good stuff on it and it works as a whole varied album

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I actively avoided them for years. As an avid Rush / Genesis fan, something about them just repulsed me.

Then, a couple of years ago I started listening Going for the One and Drama, and then the whole catalogue opened up to me. I couldn’t say what my favourite is (I even like Tormato) but post-Drama my interest wanes. Homeworld off The Ladder is a real standout in the later years... the rest..? Meh.

I also think they’re one of the few bands that have really run their course and should jack in. The recent line-up is rotten, while ARW are fantastic.

 

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You know, until pretty recently I never really liked Yes at all.  They were what I'd classify as my brothers music; he's about ten years older than me and while I was cutting my teeth on The Sweet, Sparks and Mott The Hoople singles and embracing punk, all I could hear from his room was ELP, Yes, Flash, Deep Purple, The Nice.

While I wouldn't say I was a huge fan, I have listened to everything and the only album I go back to infrequently is Fragile and even then only the 2003 reissue with the ten minute cover of America on it.

Incidentally, I'll throw in a bit of trivia here.  Years ago - late 70s - someone I knew asked around to see whether anyone was interested in an ushering job at one of the Yes shows at Wembley.  It was the one in the round, with the revolving stage.  From memory, they did an early and late show (I saw both and the soundcheck in between).  I had a horrific migraine and got horribly ill; we missed the last trains on account of having to ensure the venue was cleared and we managed to thumb a number of lifts to get home.  I puked twice on the roadside en route.  Happy days.

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I was going to say Close to the Edge, then Time and a Word (who doesn't love a bit of orchestration!), I'm partial to a bit of pop era Rabin (some pearlers in there) but it would have to be Going for the One - it's all fantastic especially Awaken..solo stuff  would have to be Fish Out of Water (it's just class with the addition of Mr Bruford)..Yes are the reason I started playing bass many moons ago

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Would be hard to pick one, but there is something about Gates of Delirium that I always loved. Probably the same with parallels, but I think gates for me.

They had quite an influence on my bass progression, probably more than I thought, as although I would describe myself as being more influenced by rush, when I play stuff, Rush is harder to play because he plays in a way I don't so I have to think about it, whereas I can play yes without a second though, not because I am necessarily that good, but in that I play exactly like he would, ie, it seems entirely natural to play like him.

I am glad I got to meet him.

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For me it would be The Yes Album, then Fragile with Close To The Edge 3rd.  Relayer would be my 4th choice tied with Going For The One.  I also think if I had to choose one, in a Desert Island Discs stylee, it would be YesSongs, which is pretty much my top 3 albums all in one.  I love the extra energy on the live album.  Saw them live many times all of which were fab.

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Arguably my favourite band (and easily my favourite bassist with far and away my favourite tone), and to be honest I’d be pushed to choose a best album.

It’d probably be between The Yes Album, Close to The Edge, Relayer and Going For The One. My favourite track - indeed probably my all-time favourite track - is Awaken. I do however feel the production on GFTO isn’t quite as good as the others; it suffers a little from late ‘70s syndrome.

I guess as a complete work I’d say Close To The Edge, probably followed by The Yes Album, but as I say, for me Awaken is the absolute pinnacle.

I actually came to Yes pretty late. At school all the sixth formers we’re into them, and I always thought the covers and logo were awesome, but never actually listened to any. I think the first album I heard was Relayer, well before I started playing, and I wasn’t ready for either Sound Chaser or Jon’s voice/accent! Years later, when my playing style was pretty well established, I read that Chris Squire was famous for using Rickenbackers, my bass of choice and that of many of my favourite bassists, so I went out and bought Classic Yes and the rest is history.

I remember being shocked at how dry the production was on those early recordings (this was the ‘80s so everything current was just a mass of delays, reverbs etc),  but they’ve stood the test of time so well. 

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8 minutes ago, Urban Bassman said:

For me it would be The Yes Album, then Fragile with Close To The Edge 3rd.  Relayer would be my 4th choice tied with Going For The One.  I also think if I had to choose one, in a Desert Island Discs stylee, it would be YesSongs, which is pretty much my top 3 albums all in one.  I love the extra energy on the live album.  Saw them live many times all of which were fab.

Good call on Yessongs.

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Funny this thread should start today.

I never got Yes as a youngster. The kids who were into Yes, or Hatfield and The North, etc were the ones who could add up or spell, and usually hopeless at sport.    So I didn’t hang around with them lot and it all sounded too complicated for my small brain.

Anyway fast forward 40+ years, and I pick up my daughter from the airport last week and she played some music on her phone as we chatted on the journey back, and this incredibly funky tune came on and I asked what it was and she said “Roundabout by some band called Yes”. 

I nearly crashed the car! The groove was fab. Then just as I was thinking, gotta get me some more Yes (and get over my prejudice), the song went into some odd timing noodle and my disappointment manifested in a massive sigh. 

Maybe I just like “music for the hard of thinking” 🤪

That said, fantastic musicians, and would probably have liked them more without the keyboard w@@*ery. and more of Steve Howe’s guitar playing. 

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They really were great from the start to Drama - that, and their debut are both great albums that tend to be a little overlooked.

Best for me, I'd also say Relayer. I reckon it's their strongest - by a slither - as Close To The Edge is pretty flawless. 

Relayer for best album, CTTE for Squire's best tone!

I actually saw them (1991?) 'An Evening Of Yes Music Plus' from memory. It was pretty much every member who'd been in up to that point (except Peter Banks). In the round, there were a lot of people on that stage. Very good gig, they opened with a long 'Yours Is No Disgrace', my fave Yes tune - so I was rightly hooked from then on! 

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1 hour ago, spongebob said:

I actually saw them (1991?) 'An Evening Of Yes Music Plus' from memory. It was pretty much every member who'd been in up to that point (except Peter Banks). In the round, there were a lot of people on that stage. 

That sounds like the 1991/1992 Yes "Union" tour to me, unless of course Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe had a lot of guests with them on tour with their evenings of Yes music, which was slightly before that.

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6 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

That sounds like the 1991/1992 Yes "Union" tour to me, unless of course Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe had a lot of guests with them on tour with their evenings of Yes music, which was slightly before that.

Just checked the ticket and Google - June '91 - you're spot on! 😀

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